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Bed sores (also known as pressure sores or pressure ulcers) are injuries to the skin and underlying tissue that can develop following prolonged pressure to the skin, particularly in areas of the body where bones are close to the surface. Elderly and infirm adults who are bedridden or confined to wheelchairs are particularly prone to bedsores unless they are frequently repositioned so as to relieve pressure on vulnerable areas.

Unfortunately, the presence of bed sores can be a sign that a nursing home resident is being neglected or abused. That's because nursing home staff must be vigilant—frequently moving individuals with limited mobility, as well as performing regular skin inspections—to keep bedsores from developing or to treat bedsores before they become serious. And the fact that understaffing affects a great part of many nursing homes doesn’t help the issue.

Dangers of Bed Sores

According to 2004 research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control about 11 percent of nursing home residents were found to have bed sores. Most of those were Stage Two pressure ulcers, defined as a partial loss of thickness, which may look like a skin abrasion, blister or shallow crater in the skin.

Stage One ulcers appear as red skin without any broken skin. The CDC defines Stage Three pressure sores as "a full thickness of skin is lost, exposing the subcutaneous tissues-present as a deep crater with or without undermining adjacent tissue." Stage Four bedsores, which are the most serious, occur when subcutaneous muscle or bone is visible at the location of the bed sore.

A Sign of Nursing Home Neglect

Remaining attentive to bed-ridden patients is a necessary precaution to avoid the damaging consequences of bed sores. If someone has developed pressure sores while a resident of a hospital, assisted living facility or other nursing home, consider it a warning sign: this individual may not be getting the necessary care and attention given his or her health conditions. At worst, they may be the victim of neglect or even nursing home abuse.

Because pressure ulcers are easier to prevent than to treat, address this issue as soon as possible if you think a nursing home resident is at risk of developing them. If you’re not an attending caregiver, ask nursing home staff what steps they take to prevent pressure sores and alert them of any Stage One or Stage Two bed sores that you observe.

If you observe bed sores developing frequently or severely in the care of others, you should take more urgent action. Anyone who observes these symptoms regularly and without repair should consider contacting their state's Long-Term Care Ombudsman, as well as a nursing home abuse attorney. If the pressure sores developed as a result of neglect or abuse, the assisted living facility can be held responsible for medical costs, pain and suffering, and other expenses.

What are your experiences in handling patient bedsores? What do you think can be done to stem the tide of cases that patients experience every year?

By Alan Brady, part-time caregiver and an author with Attorneys